strawberry
A small, red, sweet fruit with tiny seeds on the outside.
Syllables
3 syllables
Letters
Phonics breakdown
Phonics Rule: STR Blend
S, T, and R blend together — you hear all three! Like in 'strong' and 'street'.
STR is a three-letter consonant blend. You hear /s/, /t/, and /r/ spoken quickly together. It always appears at the beginning of a word.
Examples
Phonics Rule: AW Vowel Team
AW makes the /ɔː/ sound, like in 'saw' and 'draw'.
The vowel team AW makes the /ɔː/ sound. It appears at the end of words or before L and N. Examples: saw, draw, law, claw, yawn, dawn.
Tip
AW says aw — saw, draw, claw!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter B
The letter B makes the /b/ sound, like in 'bat', 'big', and 'bug'. Both lips press together then release.
B is a voiced bilabial stop — both lips press together and release with voice. It always makes the /b/ sound except when silent at the end of words after m (as in 'lamb' or 'comb').
Tip
B looks like a bat — and bat starts with /b/!
Examples
Phonics Rule: R-Controlled ER
When R comes after E, it makes the /ɜːr/ sound, like in 'her' and 'fern'.
ER makes the same sound as IR and UR — they all say /ɜːr/. ER is the most common spelling of this sound, especially at the end of words.
Tip
ER, IR, and UR all sound the same — Bossy R wins again!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Letter R
The letter R makes the /r/ sound, like in 'run', 'red', and 'rope'. The tongue curls back slightly.
R is a voiced approximant. The tongue curls back or bunches up without touching the roof of the mouth. When R follows a vowel it changes that vowel's sound (r-controlled vowels).
Tip
R is for run — /r/ with a curl of the tongue!
Examples
Phonics Rule: Y as Long E
When Y is at the end of a longer word, it says long E, like in 'happy' and 'funny'.
When Y appears at the end of a multi-syllable word, it makes the long E sound /iː/. Very common in adjectives (happy, funny, silly) and nouns (baby, candy).
Tip
Y at the end of a long word says EEE — happy, funny, baby!
Examples
What is SnapPhonics?
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